Label moistening and/or gumming device



Aug. 1, 1950 A. 1. VOORHIES LABEL MOISTENING AND/0R GUMMING DEVICE 2SheetsSheet 1 Filed Jan. 25, 1949 2a' INVENTOR. AusTm LVOORHIEs,

1950 A. 1. vooRHlEs 2,517,263

LABEL MOISTENING AND/0R GUMMING DEVICE Filed Jan. 25, 1949 2Sheets-Sheet 2 V INVENTOR. Au STIN LVODRHIES,

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points throughout the major portion of its length with circumferentiallyarranged knife-edged ribs 29 of equal diameter and jointly bearing uponthe surface of the roller l4. Hub ends 30 havin a diameter equal to theribs 29 and likewise bearing upon the surface of the roller [4 serve tolimit the endwise movement of the roller 21. The

diameter of the shaft 28 is substantially the same as the shaft l3. Theroller 21 serves as a pressure roll for maintaining a label or the likein full contact with the surface of the roller l4 as a moistener forpre-gummed labels, the roller" 20 is shifted to the dotted line positionof Figure 3. The axial center of the roller 20 is slightly above theaxis of the roller I4, for maintaining contact of the rollers.

A receiving bed for the moistened or gummed labels is indicatedgenerally by the numerals 3| and comprises a plurality of equidistantlyspaced bars 32, all fixed upon a rock shaft 33 at their rear ends and aspacer bar 34 serves to keep the several bars 32 in parallelism. Theforward or free ends of the bars 32 are tapered to a point 35 and, inusethe points 35 rest within the grooves 26 and thus offer no obstacle tothe free and unobstructed passage of the label that has passed over theroller 14 to be projected upon the bed 31. As clearly shown, the spacingof the bars 32 is identical with the spacing of the grooves 26. The bars32 are normally positioned above the table and. their upper edges areparallel with and flush withthe upper edges of the side walls 6. Forpurposes of cleaning and dis-assembling the machine the bed 3| may beswung upwardly upon its rock shaft 33 as indicated by dotted lines inFigure 3, or may be bodily removed, since the shaft 33 is journalled innotches 33 in the side walls 6.

A cover plate 36 is arranged over the forward,

end of the machine and is held against displacement at its forward endby a downturn-ed lip 31, engaging beneath a portion of the end wall 1.

The forward end of the plate 36 is slotted upon opposite sides at 38providing upwardly curved tongues 33 of a width equal to the thicknessof the side wall 6 and held in direct contact with the side walls by acap plateto be presentl de-- y scribed. That portion of the plate 35lying between the slots 38 is bent slightly downward to provide a labelguide 40. The guide 4|] extends transversely of the machine and partlyoverlies, but is spaced from the roller [4,

A cap plate 4! extends transversely of the machine to overlie thepressure roller 21 with its terminal ends flush with the outer surfacesof the side walls 3. The plate 41 is held in fixed position againstdisplacement by knurled set screws 42 having engagement in threadedrecesses formed in the extensions 10. The forward portion of the plate4| is bent upon itself for providing an inwardly and downwardlyextending lip 43, substantially co-extensive with the guide 40. Thus theguide 43 and lip 43 jointly provide a label directing channel thatserves to direct a label over the roller I4 and beneath the roller 21.The cap plate 41 serves to prevent movement of the plate 35 by contactwith the tongues 39, while the plate 36 overlies the notches l1 toprevent displacement of the roller 20. The cap plate 4| further servesto close the open end of the slots [2. Pads 44 may be employed upon thebottoms of the machine.

In the use of the device, water or adhesive is placed in the reservoirto a level below the lower ends of the slots l2. In the use of water formoistening the pre-gummed side of labels, the roller 20 is shifted tothe rear of the notches l1, out of contact with the roller 14, sincewater will naturally form an even film. A label is then placed upon thecover plate 36, with the gummed side down and moved forwardl by the handof the operator passing through the channel formed by the guide and thelip 43. The roller 14 is revolved by the crank 25 in a clock-wisedirection for picking up a film of water from the reservoir l6 and thelabel is movedforward until it engages between the roller [4 and theroller 21. Continued rotation of the roller 14 will carry the labelthereover with its gummed side held in full contact therewith by theribs 29 of the roller 21,-- imparting an even film of moisture to theback:-

side of the label. As the label passes from be-' tween the rollers l4and 21 it is fed outwardly upon the bed 3!, where it can be convenientlyremoved by the operator. The sharpened ribs 29 prevent the label fromadhering to and tending to follow the roller 21, as is the case withsolid pres sure rollers. The engagement of the pointed ends 35 of thebed in the grooves 25, presents no obstacles upon which the label mightcatch.

When it is desired to apply an adhesive upon ungummed labels, anadhesive solution is placed in the reservoir and the squeegee roller 20is shifted forwardly to contact the roller 14. Since the roller I4 willtend to pick up an adhesive in uneven quantities, the roller 2! willsmooth out the uneven mass and spread the adhesive in an even film overthe surface of the roller 14, thus' insuring of an even application ofadhesive to the label. The use of the roller 29 is particularlydesirable when a paste composition is employed.

The multiplicity of sharpened ribs 29 is sufficient to hold the label incontact with the roller !4 throughout its travel. The rollers 29 and 21are obviously frictionally driven from the roller [4.

The use of a pressure roller having the sharpened ribs will avoid anytendency of th label to adhere to this roller after moistening orgumming.

When it is desired to clean the machine, the cap plate 4| is removed byfirst removing the screws 42, after which it may be lifted off. Theplate 36 may then be removed by lifting the free endand disengaging thelip 31. The bed 3| is then swung upward or entirely removed, as isdesirable,

since its shaft 33 is journalled in open slots formed in the side walls6. The rollers I4, 20 and 21 may then be bodily lifted from the machinefor washing or otherwise cleaning. The assembly is obviously thereverse.

While the machine has been shown and described for use in moistening orgumming labels,

- it will be apparent that, by the use of suitable brackets, a roll ofgummed or ungummed paper may be fed through the machine where largescale sealing operations are desired. In certain conditions requiring aheavy and continuous moistening or gumming operation, it may be founddesirable to substitute a pulley for the hand crank 25 and drive themachine by power means.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a very simple and efiicientmachine has been designed for the moistening or gumming of labels or thelike. The parts are all simple and easily assembled and disassembled,will receive and facture. are strong, durable and highly convenient inuse.

It is to be understood, that the invention is not limited to the precisearrangement shown, but that it includes within its purview, whateverchanges fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of theappended claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

A device of the character described for moistening gurnmed labels orgumming ungummed labels, comprising a rectangular housing open at itstop and having side and end walls, the said housing provided with afluid reservoir extending transversely and integral with the side walls,the side walls provided with vertical slots open at their tops, anapplicator roller having shaft ends journalled in the slots, with theroller extending into the reservoir, a hand crank fixed upon one shaftend exteriorly of the housing, said roller extending transversely of thehousing and having its cylindrical surface provided with a plurality ofequidistantly spaced grooves, a pressure roller positioned transverselyof the housing and parallel with the applicator roller, the pressureroller comprising a shaft having ends extending into the slots, saidshaft provided with a plurality of equidistantly spaced and sharpenedcircumferential ribs, staggered with respect to the grooves and adaptedto contact the surface of the applicator roller, a squeegee rollerarranged transversely of the housing and parallel with the applicatormoisten um a label without curling or ad-- roller and having shaft endsshiftably journalled in notches formed in the side walls atdiametrically opposite points and in advance of the applicator roller,with the shaft ends extending beyond the side walls, said squeegeeroller when in operativ position adapted to contact the side of theapplicator roller by gravity for its full width and along a lineslightly above the axis, the said notches extending laterally to formsupports for the shaft ends when the squeegee roller is shifted toinoperative position, a cover plate and a cap plate for the housing,means carried by the plates for providing a label directing channel, areceiving bed for the moistened or gummed labels, comprising a pluralityof flat bars arranged with their edges uppermost, the said bars at theirrear ends fixed upon a common shaft, with the said shaft journalled inthe side walls, the uppermost edges of the bars parallel with each otherand with the upper edges of the side walls, the bars being equal innumber and spacing to the said grooves, the forward ends of the barsbeing bevelled upward to a point and adapted to normally rest in thegrooves with the points being below the outer surface of the applicatorroller,

AUSTIN I. VOORHIES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 350,899 Spitznagel Oct. 12, 18861,144,717 McMackin June 29, 1915 1,260,446 Prior Mar. 6, 1918 1,618,631Becker Feb. 22, 1927 1,804,365 Price May 5,1931 2,162,854 Minkow June20, 1939

